Wednesday, November 21, 2012

"Bahrain is facing a stark choice between the rule of law, or sliding into a
downward spiral of repression and instability, Amnesty International warned in a
new briefing today.

The briefing Bahrain: reform shelved, repression
unleashed comes days before the first anniversary of a
landmark report by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), which
was established by the country’s authorities to investigate abuses during the
2011 anti-government protests.

The BICI report found the Bahraini
government responsible for gross human rights violations and documented
widespread abuses. It made a series of recommendations including calling on the
authorities to bring to account those responsible for human rights abuses and to
carry out independent investigations into allegations of torture and other
violations.

After BICI published its report in November 2011, the
government committed itself to implementing the recommendations.

But as
this briefing makes clear, instead of fulfilling this undertaking, the
authorities swiftly moved to entrench repression, culminating in October 2012 in
the banning of all rallies and gatherings in the country in violation of the
right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and in November with the
stripping of Bahraini nationality from 31 opposition figures.

“The scale
and nature of the violations unleashed in Bahrain since the BICI made its
recommendations are making a mockery of the reform process in the country,” said
Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty
International........"